Matthew Gould earns chance to join Cheltenham Town

Matthew Gould, the grandson of former Cheltenham Town and Bristol Rovers boss Bobby, is set to become the Robins' new back-up goalkeeper.

The 20-year-old has impressed in training at Cheltenham and he will play in a reserve match at the club's training ground next week.

His father Jonathan won caps for Scotland during a career that also saw him star for Coventry City, Celtic and Preston North End.

Grandfather Bobby, who lives in Portishead near Bristol, led Wimbledon to a famous FA Cup final triumph over Liverpool in 1988. He had two spells in charge at Rovers and two at Coventry before going on to manage Wales and Cardiff City, before joining Cheltenham in 2003.

Matthew has been playing in New Zealand and Australia, with Hawke's Bay United among his former clubs, but he has returned to the Northern Hemisphere in a bid to forge a career for himself in the English game.

"We are having a look at Matthew and he has trained well with Steve Book (goalkeeping coach) and the players, so hopefully we can get something done," said Cheltenham boss Mark Yates .

"Bobby is a real character, who I speak to regularly and he has been Matthew's taxi up from Bristol, where he is staying at the moment.

"Bobby knew the situation with us looking for a goalkeeper and Matthew wanting to come back home to give it a shot in England.

"We like what we've seen so we'll have a look at him in a game and take it from there."

Yates is looking for an understudy for number one Trevor Carson, who has started the season in fine form.

He is also chasing a loan striker and hopes to tie up a deal before tomorrow's home match against Hartlepool.

The transfer window shuts at 11pm on Monday night.

"We think we might have found somebody and I'm waiting for an answer, but it'll be a loan," Yates said. "Along with the back-up goalkeeper, that will complete the squad and we can crack on with it."